Bulldogs Battle Past Quinnipiac, 4-3

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The shot chart favored
Yale 27-9, but the final score Sunday afternoon at Johnson Field --
4-3 -- was more indicative of the hard-fought nature of the
Bulldogs' win over Quinnipiac. With the Bobcats' two
goalies combining for 12 saves, and three Yale goals in the second
half that were each followed almost immediately by Quinnipiac
goals, the Bulldogs had to battle for everything they got as they
improved to 2-0 on the season.

"This was a hard-fought, local rival game," said
Yale head coach Pam Stuper. "I don't think we played
our best hockey, but I'm proud of the team for coming up with
a win."

The physical tone for the game was set early on, as junior
forward/midfielder Chelsey Locarno took an
inadvertent stick to the face on a Quinnipiac player's
follow-through two minutes in. Locarno was down on the turf for
several scary moments, but she eventually got up and had her wound
patched up on the sideline. The rest of the game saw several other
close encounters, including a pair of yellow cards for
Quinnipiac.

Senior goalkeeper Katie Bolling made a pair of
big plays in the first eight minutes, charging out to kick the ball
away with the Bobcats driving and then making a kick save on a
corner shot by Quinnipiac's Kimberly Cunniff.

The lone goal of the first half was a pretty one by the
Bulldogs, as sophomore forward/midfielder Mary Beth Barham drove along the baseline and fired a crossing pass
that freshman forward Erica Borgo redirected in at
15:46. It was the third goal of the weekend for the impressive
rookie.

"It was great to see Erica lead us off with a goal,"
Stuper said. "It was key for us, to get ahead
early."

Bobcat goalie Amanda DeLouise kept the Yale lead from growing
with a pair of nice saves in the final six minutes of the first
half. First she kicked away an attempt by junior forward
Mia Rosati, who came in all alone after taking a
long pass from junior back Erin Carter. DeLouise
also dove to block a blast from junior midfielder/back
Taylor Sankovich off a corner.

The Bulldogs had a pair of great chances at goals 10 minutes
into the second, but one shot hit the post and another apparent
goal was waved off. Yale kept up the attack, and after a corner at
52:37 senior forward Johna Paolino redirected a
pass from Rosati to make it 2-0 Yale.

Paolino's goal wound up being the start of a
back-and-forth end of the game. Quinnipiac pulled within 2-1 with a
penalty corner goal by Katie Van Nostrand at 53:55. The
Bulldogs went back up by two less than eight minutes later, with
sophomore forward Maddy Sharp scoring off an
assist by junior midfielder Dinah Landshut. Less
than a minute later the Bobcats scored on another penalty corner
(Van Nostrand again) to get within 3-2.

Barham picked up an important goal with less than seven minutes
to play while colliding with DeLouise as both players battled for a
pass from junior forward/midfielder Kirsten Krebs.

"Kirsten came off the bench and generated some good
offense for us in the second half," Stuper said.

Barham's goal made it 4-2 Yale, and the breathing room
became even more important when Amanda Danziger came in on a
breakaway with 11 seconds left and scored for Quinnipiac. The
Bulldogs controlled the ball after that to run out the final
seconds on the 4-3 win.

Nicole Lewis, who came on in relief of DeLouise (10 saves) after
Barham's goal, finished with two saves.

The end of the first weekend of the season helped answer many of
the questions Yale faced heading into 2010, with two of the
team's top scorers from last year's squad lost to
graduation. Even without all-time points leader Ashley McCauley
'10 and single-season assists leader Katie Cantore '10,
the Bulldogs scored just as many goals against Sacred Heart and
Quinnipiac (nine) as they did last year against those same two
teams. And just as many players (nine) were involved in the
scoring.

Rosati and Landshut, two of Yale's veterans, were keys to
the attack on Sunday.

"Mia played an outstanding game," said Stuper.
"Dinah led well in the midfield, and helped keep us
composed."